With Pen & Saber: The Letters and Diaries of J.E.B. Stuart’s Staff Officers by Robert J. Trout

With Pen & Saber: The Letters and Diaries of J.E.B. Stuart’s Staff Officers by Robert J. Trout

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With Pen & Saber: The Letters and Diaries of J.E.B. Stuart’s Staff Officers by Robert J. Trout

While James Ewell Brown Stuart led the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia through battles in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, his staff officers wrote frequent letters to their wives, parents, brothers, sisters, and friends, describing what army life was like. Some kept journals, too, recording their thoughts and insights on the Civil War and their roles in it. Their writings include stories of everyday occurrences in camp and on the march, experiences in battle, political and military opinions, and concerns for their families they left behind, along with their thoughts about their dashing commander. Their fascinating on-the-spot accounts contain an immediacy not found in any memoir.

In With Pen & Saber, Robert J. Trout arranges chronologically the original writings of nine of Stuart’s closest comrades – Peter Wilson Hairsont, Philip Henry Powers, Chiswell Dabney, Richard Channing Price, Francis Smith Robertson, John Esten Cooke, James Hardeman Stuart, Thomas Randolph Price, Jr., and Alexander Robinson Boteler. By adding background information and filling in any gaps in time, the author covers the entire length of Stuart’s wartime service in this compelling volume. Even though Stuart himself is not always at center stage, his presence is constantly evident, for it was he who found these officers and made them his own, he who cast the reflection of his glory to add luster to their careers. Out of the rich mine of their letters and diaries, Trout forges a dynamic portrait of this tight-knit band of young men. For them the war began as a great adventure, lent glory by their association with Stuart. But it was an adventure that grew more and more grim as these men witnessed first the fall of their gallant leader, and then that of their cause itself.